Book Friends Forever Podcast

Grace Lin and Alvina Ling welcome special guest Debbi Michiko Florence--Grace and Debbi are recording together while on their Very Asian Book Trip! They talk about building community, including the Asian American Voices retreat at Highlights. They talk about the impact the pandemic had on their respective communities. And they talk about how the main thing needed to create community is putting yourself out there. They also talk about the potential pitfalls of creating community.

For the Fortune Cookie segment they talk about their Mid-Autumn Festival wishes, and they end as always with what they're grateful for.

Click here to become a Patreon member: https://www.patreon.com/Bookfriendsforever1.

See info about Grace's new book "The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon": https://linktr.ee/gracelinauthor.

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Grace and Alvina welcome special guest Adelia Kalyvas to talk about her job working in Special Sales, specifically the gift side. You'll learn all about how she got into publishing and what "specialty sales" and "gift sales" entails. They talk about the type of products that work well in the gift market, including mini kits and wrapping paper books, and how they sell to accounts using paper catalogs and gift shows. For the Fortune Cookie segment they talk about their favorite retail stores to shop, and they end as always with what they're grateful for. Click here to become a Patreon member: https://www.patreon.com/Bookfriendsforever1. See info about Grace's new book "The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon": https://linktr.ee/gracelinauthor. Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookfriendsforever_podcast/

Grace and Alvina discuss some recent events surrounding the Freedom of Speech, including late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel being pulled from the air temporarily. They talk about censorship and cancel culture.

For the Fortune Cookie segment, they talk about Slate.com's recent "25 Greatest Picture Books of the Last 25 years." And they end as they always do with what they're grateful for.

Click here to become a Patreon member: https://www.patreon.com/Bookfriendsforever1.

See info about Grace's new book "The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon": https://linktr.ee/gracelinauthor.

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookfriendsforever_podcast/

Grace and Alvina are together in Brooklyn and gossip with each other! They talk about their relationship with gossip, when it can be positive or harmful, and Alvina shares a piece of funny gossip from her office. They also share some legendary author gossip!

For the Fortune Cookie segment the talk about a group that has formed called "Save Middle Grade" to try to address the challenges the middle grade category has been facing. And they end as they always do with what they're grateful for.

Click here to become a Patreon member: https://www.patreon.com/Bookfriendsforever1.

See info about Grace's new book "The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon": https://linktr.ee/gracelinauthor.

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookfriendsforever_podcast/

Grace and Alvina welcome special guest Michele McGonigle DeYoung! Michele was the first producer/editor of the Book Friends Forever podcast, and they discuss how she pivoted from her career in Audio Publishing to family coaching! Michele talks about how she broke into publishing, and then how she pivoted away! She also talks about her coaching training and the common issues she talks about in her coaching practice.

For the Fortune Cookie segment they talk about what they've been reading lately, and they end as always with what they're grateful for.

Click here to become a Patreon member: https://www.patreon.com/Bookfriendsforever1.

See info about Grace's new book "The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon": https://linktr.ee/gracelinauthor.

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookfriendsforever_podcast/

Grace and Alvina continue their Publishing Curriculum series and welcome special guest Jenny Mandel to talk about her job working in Special Sales. You'll learn all about how she got into publishing and what "special sales" entails. And Jenny also shares the "meet cute" way she met her husband! For the Fortune Cookie segment they talk about what they're looking forward to this Fall, and they end as always with what they're grateful for.

Click here to become a Patreon member: https://www.patreon.com/Bookfriendsforever1.

See info about Grace's new book "The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon": https://linktr.ee/gracelinauthor.

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookfriendsforever_podcast/

Grace Lin and Alvina Ling discuss a bunch of different pieces of publishing news, including the launch of Google's Gemini Storybook App, the cancellation of the NEA Creative Writing Grant, the creation of a new MFA program of writers of young people's literature, and the news that S&S's CEO will be stepping down to start a new imprint.

Children's Literature Specialist Alison Morris joins them to discuss two recent studies on the decline of pleasure reading, and about how Gen Z isn't reading to their kids as much as previous generations. And then Alison shares some book recommendations. They end as always with what they're grateful for.

Click here to become a Patreon member: https://www.patreon.com/Bookfriendsforever1.

See info about Grace's new book "The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon": https://linktr.ee/gracelinauthor.

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookfriendsforever_podcast/

Grace Lin and Alvina Ling talk about travel and explore the question of whether or not all travel is transformative or opens one's horizons? They discuss how living in a foreign country is more transformative than travel, and how reading can be more transformative than travel.

Then they talk about how scammers are using AI to send very personalized emails to trick authors. They talk about some other recent scams, including fake employment texts and other scam texts.

Then Alvina tells Grace about the book INVISIBLE PARADE by Leigh Bardugo and John Picacio. And, they end with what they're grateful for.

Click here to become a Patreon member: https://www.patreon.com/Bookfriendsforever1.

See info about Grace's new book "The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon": https://linktr.ee/gracelinauthor.

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookfriendsforever_podcast/

Grace and Alvina talk about two different topics--they debate the term "well-read" and whether they consider themselves to be well-read or if they even aspire to be so. They also discuss the gender disparity in children's books featuring animal protagonists.

And then, Alvina tells Grace about the Book BEAR CAME ALONG by Richard T. Morris and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. They end as always with what they're grateful for.

Click here to become a Patreon member: https://www.patreon.com/Bookfriendsforever1. See info about Grace's new book "The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon": https://linktr.ee/gracelinauthor. Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookfriendsforever_podcast/

Grace and Alvina welcome special guest Padma Venkatraman, author and oceanographer, to talk about a recent bill that she helped pass in Rhode Island to protect librarians, teachers, authors, and publishers from book banning.

For the Fortune Cookie segment they all talk about their favorite ice cream flavors!

Click here to become a Patreon member: https://www.patreon.com/Bookfriendsforever1. See info about Grace's new book "The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon": https://linktr.ee/gracelinauthor. Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookfriendsforever_podcast/